Immunochemical colorectal cancer testing works better if samples are kept in a laboratory refrigerator.

Immunochemical assays offer an alternative test for colorectal cancer.  The traditional assay requires that patients don’t eat citrus, meat, cantaloupe, or any of a variety of other foods for three days prior to testing; so an alternative test that doesn’t require all that preparation would be useful.  It turns out, though, that one particular immunochemical assay is temperature-dependent.  A report explains that Italian researchers found the particular assay to be more accurate in winter than in summer.  To help alleviate the problem, researchers recommend keeping samples cool during transportation, then storage in a laboratory refrigerator before testing.